Silver Javanese Presentation Sword

A fine Javanese presentation sword, mostly worn by high ranked officers and dignitaries around the kraton palace or presented to Dutch dignitaries. The sword features many European influences, which often was derived by the Dutch Colonial influence. The small saber is locally called ‘pedang’ which can be freely translated as ‘sword’. These silver clad swords generally come in two verities, the ‘Pedang suduk Maru’ and ‘Pedang Lurus’. However, this ‘pedang’ seems to be heavily influenced by the European saber or hangers worn by the soldiers of the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C). Most of these swords are attributed to Central Java, Madura and Sumatra.

The entire sword hilt is in chased and repoussé silver with lavishly decorated foliage and rocaille motives in Louis XVI influenced style. The D-shaped guard was also a very common European design. The presenting of this style was often a little longer produced than the actual fashion in Europe and it was widely adopted within the Javanese high society. The scabbard has an engraved local design of foliage and flowers and has a European style chape.

The blade is slightly curved, single edged and shows a mild pattern of heath treatment over the entire length. Most of these blades have ‘pamor’ blades or have been mounted with European blades. Our example was once polished which makes the surface rather smooth and consistent.